Melody's Four Month Schedule
When Melody was 3.5 months old, we removed one more of her bottles. She is now taking only four bottles a day. We are still getting our pediatricians recommended amount of formula, but Melody is going longer between bottles and taking larger bottles. The schedule isn't dramatically different from her three month schedule, but we had to change the times up in order to remove a bottle.
We are also extremely lucky to have a kid that LOVES sleep! This scheduled truly works for us, but it isn't for everyone. Melody was ready for this transition. When we were doing five bottles, she would always have a bottle she would never come close to finishing. That was our sign. We slowly started extending the length between bottles until we were able to remove the fifth bottle altogether. My best friend did not transition her child to four bottles until she was five months old. Even when she would increase her daughter's bottle sizes, she would still want her bottle 3-3.5 hours later. They were able to make the transition when she started getting solids. So it's best to take cues from your child and not force a change on them if they are not ready (or at least that's my humble opinion).
So here's the new schedule!
Workday Schedule
**Melody wakes up anytime between 6:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. It truly varies day to day. We have tried to determine the trend, but we have been unsuccessful. I am going to assume for the schedule below, she wakes up at 7:00 a.m. Luckily for me, it doesn't effect her feeding because she has no desire to eat until 9:00 a.m. anyhow!
7:00 a.m. - Melody wakes up. Melody is a talker in the mornings. So while she is talking and smiling, I make the bed then remove her sleep sack. I then go and change her diaper. I keep her in her pajamas at this time. At this point, I let Melody play on her kick and play piano, then I take a shower/bath. Sometimes she will fall asleep playing, other times she will not. This also varies. After I finish getting ready, I will usually eat a quick breakfast.
9:00 a.m. - I feed Melody her first bottle. Luckily Melody isn't hungry when she first wakes up. Maybe she gets this from me. Who knows really? Either way, I feed her around 9. On days that she refused to go back to sleep, I may give in and feed her as early as 8:30 a.m. But rarely do I feed her any earlier. The earliest I have fed her is 8:00 a.m. Even when I feed her earlier, I do not let that effect the schedule for the rest of the day. After her bottle, I change her diaper and her outfit. Then she usually will play on her piano. Around 10, I will put her in her swing and turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She will usually fall asleep in her swing for around 45 minutes. This allows me to do a few small chores around the house. When she wakes up, I will change her diaper then we will do tummy time. She will usually take another nap in her swing around 12:15. At this time I will eat lunch and finish any other chores that I can.
1:00 p.m. - I feed Melody her second bottle. After her bottle, I change her diaper then she plays. If she is in the mood for tummy time, I will sit down with her while she does this. If she is playing on her piano, I will usually do something around the house or prep dinner. She usually goes down for her afternoon nap around 2. I usually relax at this point and sometimes nap myself!
5:00 p.m. - I feed Melody her third bottle. Depending on what we have planned, I will either just change her diaper, or I will change her diaper and put her in pajamas. Meaning, if we go out to eat or if she is getting a bath, I will leave on her daytime clothes. After her bottle, I will cook dinner, and we will eat. She usually sits in her high chair while we eat, and she will play with her toys. She will typically nap from 7 until her last bottle. I will usually make bottles while she naps, and we will watch some tv.
9:00 p.m. - Brad will feed Melody her last bottle. While he feeds her, I will usually prep things for the next day. I like to lay out her clothes and prep my diaper bag. Brad will change her diaper, attach her snuza, then we will sleep sack her. Most nights we will read her a book, then we put her to bed. She is still in a pack and play in our bedroom, so we will let her fall asleep before going to bed ourselves.
Weekend Schedule
7:00 a.m. - Melody wakes up. Because Brad never gets to sleep in, I will usually get up with Melody and let her play while he keeps sleeping. If we have something going on, we will get up and take a shower/bath while she plays. It truly depends on what we have going on that day.
9:00 a.m. - We feed Melody her first bottle. After her bottle, we change her diaper and her outfit. Then she usually will play on her piano. She still will usually nap around 10 and 12:15. Depending on what we do that day will determine where she naps and if she truly naps as usual.
1:00 p.m. - We feed Melody her second bottle then change her diaper. She will usually nap around 2 or 2:30.
5:00 p.m. - We feed Melody her third bottle then change her diaper. On weekends we tend to go out for dinner, so we will do that. When we get home, we change her into her pajamas and make bottles. She still will usually nap around 7 until 9.
9:00 p.m. - We feed Melody her last bottle. We will change her diaper, attach her snuza, then we will sleep sack her. Most nights we will read her a book, then we put her to bed. She is still in a pack and play in our bedroom, so we will let her fall asleep before going to bed ourselves.
